Travel Blogs from Pakistan

I spent a few hours at the Grand Mercure Accor Hotel, the first five-star hotel in the city for 25 years. It was a refreshing change from the boredom of visiting the usual suspects. Although Sheraton, PC, Marriott and the rest are fine hotels in their ...

Hi folks don't know when I can send this but I'll start it now. Since I last wrote we flew from Islamabad International airport up to Gilgit. If I had been allowed to go in the truck I would have but as women were not allowed I had to take the ...

... . These areas are dominated by Taliban and there, Pakistani law has no force and authorities are powerless. Since September, 11th, Pakistan has received billions of dollars from the USA to get rid from the Taliban (the militia they had themselves trained ...

"So, why can't you just sell me the ticket now? if it's on the way, it has to land right?"
"not right. anything can happen. and usually does."
I was trying to buy a plane ticket for tomorrow, going to Peshawar. the man behind the counter wouldn't ...

... , China. After that, I plan to return to Dubai and start the Western leg of my journey through Turkey, Iran, and Uzbekistan. Pakistan should be fairly easy to navigate through as I speak the language here and it is my ancestral homeland. The recent ...

... guns. Some stats say that the town of Darra hand makes 300 guns a day that get distributed to the tribal areas between pakistan and afghanistan. what fun!
I went to the "smuggler's bazaar" this afternoon and as promised, it's a bunch of people hanging ...

Crossing the Iranian border into Pakistan was an unforgettable experience. The official visa and passport building was no more than a mud hut with a couple of money changers loitering outside, throwing eager glances in our direction. We were then shown ...

Passu is for sure one of the most beautiful places on earth. The "town" itself consists of a few houses and guesthouses sprawled along the winding Karakoram highway... and the Karakoram highway itself would, in other parts of the world, be called a small ...

spent the night near the shandur pass, home of the world's highest (15,000 feet) polo field. every july 80,000 people come here to watch a polo game. we walked around on the deserted field in the middle of the mountains, very pretty. we got to chitral ...

... left open. People from both sides wandered in and out and nobody seemed to mind. This was our first glimpse of Taftan. Pakistan was strangely horizontal, buildings were exclusively single story, the roads were made of dust and the view was bleak. I ...

In August of 1993 my wife Marjorie and I signed up for a mountain biking expedition in northern Pakistan. The trip would run along the Karakoram Highway mostly, from the Kunjarab Pass at the Chinese border, down through Hunza, and all the way to Gilgit. ...

... a whole. We saw only one building that was decent and it was literally square and featureless apart from square windows and a door. Pakistan seems to be a country afflicted by its people and it would be a better place without them. Gone here are the warm ...

... , who was originally from Hunza but is studying in Gilgit. We, along with a few others, discussed various issues, from Pakistan's involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict, to the situation of Gilgit-Baltistan not being treated equally as a province of ...

... finally made it to Gilgit about 9pm, cold wet and not a single penny on me. Believe it or not though even this in Pakistan turned into a good experience, the guy a Mandina guess house sensed my frustration and gave me dry clothes, food and
a bed for ...

... was so much amazing stuff to see) so I decided to join the trek and try and sweat this thing out. As treks in Pakistan go it was relatively easy but when carrying your own bag, sleeping bag and tent nothing at this altitude seemed easy, especially when ...

... so close to the Afghanistan border the Taliban had threatened to make an attack due to the high amount of Westerners and Pakistan diplomats attending the game, luckily its wasn't, they just got half the Pakistan army to create check points and set up ...

I spent the early hours of altitude insomnia trying to remember the words to Swinging on a Star. I got half way there, but couldn't remember the verse about the mule. We packed up and left by about 9.15. The others rapidly vanished into the ...

... to know what we thought of Pakistan compared to India. Ever the diplomat I told them what they wanted to hear chanted a few Pakistan zindabad which almost caused a riot they were so pleased. They used up most of the film in their camera taking photos of ...